Randomness Guide to London Menu

Nice enough pub at the south end of the Isle of Dogs.

Inside, the decor is quite smart but not overly posh; it definitely feels like a pub rather than a restaurant. There are a couple of leather sofas, a pool table, and a beer garden out the back. A sign on the wall warns that no children are allowed in the pub after 7pm. Free wireless internet is available (no password; just connect to the Lord Nelson network). There are some board games behind the bar as well, including Scrabble and Trivial Pursuit. There is a quiz advertised on Monday evenings from 8pm (£1 entry).

The only real ale in August 2007 was Bombardier, but in April 2008 they had both Bombardier (£3/pint) and Young's Bitter (which was off, though they were in the process of getting it working again).

Food is served noon–2:30pm and 6pm-9pm Tuesday to Friday, noon–3pm and 6pm–9pm Saturday, and noon–3:30pm Sunday. (A snack menu is available on Mondays.)

Starters/light bites cost between £4 (soup of the day; garlic bread; tempura vegetables) and £5 (prawn cocktail; whitebait; tempura king prawns; mussels). Chips are £2 or £2.75, and you can have cheese or curry sauce on them if you like (the price then rises to £3.25). Baguettes come in white or brown, and cost between £4 (sausage and onion, tuna and cucumber, or cheese and onion) and £7 (steak and onion).

Mains are between £7 (beefburger; omelette with your choice of filling; all-day breakfast) and £12 (rib-eye steak). Vegetarian options marked on the menu are vegetarian shepherd's pie and Thai vegetable curry, both £8. (Not sure why the omelette and the vegetable tagine aren't marked as vegetarian.) Desserts all cost £3.45, and include chocolate pudding, apple crumble, and orange and grapefruit sorbet. Cheese and biscuits is £8.

As well as the normal menu, roast lunch is available on Sundays; there's a choice of beef or lamb, it comes with all the trimmings, and it costs £9. They also do daily specials.

Kake, Noodles and Kami visited on a Sunday lunchtime in August 2007; there weren't many customers but it didn't feel empty. The three of us ordered lunch; unfortunately it turned out that there was a problem with the printer meaning that the kitchen didn't receive the third order. Eventually we asked what was going on, there was a small kerfuffle, and the third meal finally turned up shortly after the other two of us had finished eating.

Kake's vegetable tagine (£7) photo turned out to be a tomato-based stew involving root vegetables, spinach, and chickpeas. It was far too sweet, but it wasn't inedible — I just wouldn't order it again. Noodles said his Sunday lunch wasn't bad. Kami liked his steak and kidney pudding (£9 — may only be available on Sundays) apart from the rather tough suet pastry; he gave it extra points for the nice rich gravy inside and the additional jug of gravy that accompanied it. The broad beans that came with it were rather overcooked.

Overall: certainly a decent pub, and decent food prices too. Worth a special journey? Possibly not. But definitely worth checking out if you're in the area.

Ewan agrees that this is a very nice pub, friendly and relaxed. On a sunny Saturday afternoon it wasn't too busy, and it was pleasant sitting out in the beer garden.

See also:

• Beer In The Evening comments
• Fancyapint review
• Kake's photoset on Flickr